Today, after 15 years of additional technology evolution--and after memories of the event have been obliterated by semi-annual blockbuster launches of Apple products--it's hard to believe that the Windows 95 launch was a big deal.

But it WAS.

In fact, it was a monstrous deal.

Windows 95 catapulted Microsoft into the mainstream consumer consciousness, in a way that no other Microsoft product ever had. It capped Microsoft's utter demolition of Apple in the first round of the companies three-decade-long war (Apple's shaping up to win the next round). It set up Microsoft for five years of awesome financial performance that nearly made the company the most valuable in the world.

It also featured a MASSIVE publicity campaign, headlined by the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up."